Match-splint separator and gatherer



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B. T. STEBER MATGH SPLINT SEPARATOR AND GAT'HERER.

No. 271,376. Patented Jan.30,1883.

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B. T. STEBBR.

MATCH SPLINT SBPARATOR AND GATHERER- No. 271,376.. Patented Jan.30,1883.

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Cl iior "zzejf I UNTTED STATES PATENT Trice.

BERNARD T. STEBER, OF UTIOA, NEW YORK.

MATCH-SPLINT SE PARATOR AND GATHERER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 271,376, dated January 30, 1883.

Application filed August 28, 1882. (Model.) v

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, BERNARD'T. STEBER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Utica,

in the county of Oneida and StateofNew York,

have invented a new and useful Improvement in Match-Splint Separators and Gatherers, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvementin that class of match-machines in which rows of match sticks or splints are placed between holding or clamping surfaces preparatory to being dipped in the compositions.

In all machines of this class of which I am aware the match-sticks before being placed between the clamping-surfaces are separated at suitable distances to prevent the composition applied to each stick from touching that of adjacent sticks, and thus causing the matches to adhere together. In some machines the match-sticks are out from the block by a peculiar knife, which cuts them so far apart as to leave between each two sticks as cut a portion of the wood, from which a stick is formed by the next cut of the knife, which is shifted laterally after each cut. The sticks as thus cut far apart in rows-are held by the knife, and by its movement projected into a clamp, which seizes the row and holds it, so that itis removed from the knife as the latter recedes from the clamp to perform its nextcut. In another machine the match-sticks after being out are deposited upon a carrier at proper distances apart and conveyed to a belt, which as it receives the sticks is wound into a coil, between the convolutions of which a long row of splints is held in a coil. In some instances the sticks are placed in clagnps and arranged at proper distances apart by hand. In all cases heretofore much time has been lost or special mechanism required to arrange the match-sticks after being cut at proper distances apart for dipping before they are placed between the clamping-surfaces by which theyare held while the dipping is being performed.

It is the main object of my invention to enable the match-sticks to be cut close together and transferred directly in close rows to the clamps, and to be then automatically separated at proper distances for dipping. I am thus en abled to use the simplest form of knife and its operating mechanism, and to form at each cut as many match-sticks as the block is capable of yielding or producing in a row, no time being lost between the knife and the clamps.

It is a further object of my invention to gather the completed matches together in close rows afterthc separated sticks have been dipped, the gathering being for the purpose of placing the matches in convenient position for boxing, or for any other purpose.

In describing my invention I will refer to the patent ofGates and Harwood, No. 10,737, granted April 4,1854, upon which it may be regarded as an improvement, as myinvention may be applied to the Gates and Harwood machine and double the productive capacity of said machine.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a perspective view illustrating my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the bottom plate of the separator. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the knife attached to its carrying-frame. Fig. 4isa perspective view of the knife detached. Fig. 5 is a vertical section of a machine, showing the separator and gatherer in their relative positions. Fig. 6 is a diagram illustrating the relative position of the separator and gatherer, and Fig. 7 is a section of the top plate of the gatherer in the plane indicated by the line was in Fig. 6.

In the Gates and Harwood machine, before referred to, the block from which the matchsticks are to be cut is fed to the knife, which cuts a row of sticks at proper distances apart, and then rises to project the sticks into one of a series of clamps in an endless belt formed of such clamps and moved step by step, in order to bring the clamps successively into position to receive the rows of sticks and carry them to the dipping devices, which depress the belt so as to force the ends of the sticks into compo sition in vessels over which the belt passes. After passing the dipping devices the matches are carried on to the discharging devices, being dry by the time they reach said devices, which discharge them promiscuously into a receptacle.

For present purposes we will consider the machine to which my improvement is applied as precisely the same in construction as the Gates and Harwood machine, except in the articulars hereinafter mentioned, and a full description here of said machine is therefore unnecessary, as it may be found in their patent, the number and date of which I have before given.

In lieu of the knife used in said patented machine, I use a knife such as shown in Fig. 4 of my drawings. This knife is composed of a' main blade, A, bent at its ends to form ears I), by which it is securcd to the vertically-reciprocating frame 0, and provided on one side with short laterally-projecting thin blades a, at suitable distances apart to cut the matchsticks, by simply splitting the strip which is cut oil from the fed block by the main blade. The sticks are thus cut as closev together as practicable, and I omit the mechanism for shifting the knife laterally, as in the patented machine, but retain the devices for giving said knife its vertical reciprocation. On its upward movement the knife places the sticks in the clamp precisely as it does in the patented machine, but close togetherinstead of being separated at the proper distance for dipping. The separation is performed by devices which I will now describe.

Beyond the knife, in the direction in which the belt travels and in front of the first dipping devices, I arrange a separator, D,'(shown in Fig. 1,) through which the endless belt of clamps passes.

The belt of clamps E is composed of a series of pairs of plates or slabs, (designated by the letters 9 and h,) and a bow-spring, 0', arranged between each pair of plates, with its feet resting upon a plate of one pair and its back or center against the plate of an adjacent pair.

Through the ends of the plates and springs are formed apertures, through which pass the wires 0, which support them in the form of a belt. The adjacent faces of the plates or slabs of each pair are preferably lined with some elastic and soft fabric.

I lay no claim to the clamp-belt or mode of operating it, as it will be found fully described in the patent referred to.

The separator 1) is composed of a bottom plate, F, which is supported on the upper sides of the side pieces, 7c it, of the machine, a top plate, F, supported by suitable standards, f fff, and the sets of guides L and L, which are precisely similar and arranged upon the upper surface of the bottom plate and the undersurfaceot'thetopplate,respectively. These guides will be better understood by referring to Fig. 2.

The ways at are separated by walls a, and are of a proper width to receive the ends of the match-sticks o freely. The walls at are quite thin at the point 0 of the guide, and are at such a distance apart as to enter the narrow slits between each two match-sticks in the row as cut and deposited in the clamps by the knife. At the point indicated by the letter 1) the two outer ways diverge outwardly fromthe nextinner ways, and these next inner ways at the point q diverge from the central way. At the point indicated by r all the ways resume their parallelism, but are separated by intervening spaces of sufficient width to keep the m atoll-heads entirely separated after the sticks are dipped. The top and bottom plates of the separator are at such a distance from each other that the upper ends of the match-sticks will enter 'the ways of the upper guide and their lower ends enter the ways of the lower guide, these upperand lower ways corresponding exactly in position. It will now be observed that as the belt passes through the separator the sticks held by each clamp will enter the ways of the guides, and the walls of these ways will deflect the sticks obliquely on each side of the center of the row until they are properly separated, and will then guide them in parallel paths fora short distance until they leave the separator. The clamps will then hold them in position as separated while they go through the process of dipping, as in the Gatesand Harwood patented machine. After being dipped the matches may pass on and be discharged, as in said patented machine, or they may be gathered close together again by being caused to pass through a gatherer after becoming sufiiciently dry.

The gatherer may be located so the belt may pass through it at any point after the matchsticks have been dipped and are sufficiently dry. The gatherer is designated by the letter b in Fig. 5, which is a vertical longitudinal section of a match-machine similar to that shown in the Gates and Harwood patent.

The letters t and t designate the belt supporting and guiding rollers; u, the knife-operating devices; K, the match-block in position to be fed to the knife by belt 7:; a, the fur nace; 10 the dipping-rollers; 1d, the roller for applying the igniting material; a, the discharging devices, and 'w" the feed-wheel.

The gatherer is similar in construction to the separator, difi'ering therefrom mainly 'in position, the matches entering the guideways of the gatherer at the end where the ways are farthest apart, and leaving them after said ways have converged and resumed their parallelism close together. The ways, however, do not approach each other quite so closely as in the separator.

The relative positions of the separator and gathercr are illustrated in Fig. 6, D being the separator, and S the gatherer. The ways and points are designated by the same letters as in the gatherer, but marked prime, The belt is supposed to travel in the direction indicated by the arrow, entering the separator D at the end where the guideways are converged and leaving it at the end where the ways are farthest apart, but entering the gatherer S at the end where the ways are farthest apart and leaving it at the end where the ways are closest together.

The separator spreads the match-sticks apart for dipping and the gatherer brings them close together after they have been dipped and become sufficiently dried.

It is in order to allow time for the matches to dry that the gatherer is placed so far from the dipping devices, as shown in Fig. 5.

The heads of the matches pass through the upper guideways of the gatherer in a machine arranged as shown in the drawings, owing to the fact that the belt becomes inverted in its passage, as will readily be observed.

The walls of the upper guideways of the gatherer project somewhat farther from the plate than do those of the lower ways, and

are rabbeted or cut away above their lower edges, as shown in Fig. 7, to avoid rubbing the match-heads.

The matches are gathered in the machine, as shown, simply in orderthat they may be discharged in close rows and fall without much scattering; but I propose to constructa boxing mechanism toco-operate with the gatherer and force the matches therefrom in close rows into boxes. This mechanism so combined l intend'to make the subject-matter of a separate application for Letters Patent.

1 do not limit myself to any particular number of guideways for the separator and gather-er, as their number may obviously be increased as desired, and in practice I will use many more than are shown in the drawings. 1 may, for instance, form the separator with,say, thirtyguideways on each plate, and the gatherer with a similar number, and converge the ways of the gatherer in three divisions of ten each, so that the matches from each division may be forced into a separate box or receptacle.

I wish it also to be understood that I do not What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. In a match -machine, the combination, with a stick or splint holder, of automatic devices for separating the sticks or splints in said holder, substantially as described.

2. In combination with a traveling clamp adapted to hold the match-sticks, aseparator arranged to spread the sticks apart as the clamp moves, substantially as described.

3. A match-stick separator provided with diverging ways arranged to receive a row of sticks at one end, guide them separately, and laterally spread them apart, substantially as described. I

4. In a match-machine, the combination,with a stick clamp or holder, of a separator adapted to spread the sticks apart in said clamp or holder, and a gatherer adapted to bring the sticks close together again after they have been spread, substantially as described.

5. The separator composed of the suitablysupported bottom and top plates provided with the guideways arranged essentially as described, for the purpose set forth.

'6. The gatherer provided with guideways having their walls rabbeted or cut away, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

BERNARD T. STEBER. 

